Updates: Israel reducing Gaza City to ‘fields of rubble’ as attacks kill 78

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Read about the impact of the Israeli-imposed famine on families and children in Gaza here.

Find out how the Global Sumud Flotilla, consisting of dozens of ships, is mounting the largest effort to break the siege of Gaza here.

Read more on the devastating Israeli air attacks on Gaza City and other areas of the enclave here.

And you can always find our comprehensive coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza here.

• The Israeli army killed at least 78 Palestinians, including 32 aid seekers and one journalist, across the Strip as it ramped up its bombardment of Gaza City while blocking most aid from getting into the starved enclave.
• Houthi leaders in Yemen pledged to escalate their attacks on Israel in opposition to the war in Gaza. The group also detained at least 11 UN personnel in raids on offices in Sanaa and Hodeidah.
• A Liberia-flagged and Israeli-owned tanker reported that an unknown projectile fell near it in the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia, followed by a loud bang, but no damage or injuries.
• The Israeli army blew up a building in southern Lebanon’s Ayta ash-Shaab and carried out another killing in Lebanon in alleged attempts to hit Hezbollah operatives.
• Israeli soldiers and settlers injured several Palestinians during incursions into Hebron and other areas of the occupied West Bank, with more arrests reported.
• The Jerusalem governorate said that Israel is carrying out unauthorised excavations and demolition operations beneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to destroy Islamic antiquities.
• The Global Sumud Flotilla humanitarian expedition has set off from Spain’s Barcelona on a mission to break the siege of Gaza and deliver aid to Palestinians.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the arrest of UN personnel by the Houthis in Sanaa and Hodeidah, and demanded their “immediate and unconditional release”.

Guterres also called for the release of other UN personnel and aid workers who have been detained since 2021 and 2023, and one who died in detention earlier this year.

“The continued arbitrary detention of all such persons is intolerable,” the UN chief said in a statement. “The personnel of the UN and its partners must never be targeted, arrested or detained while carrying out their duties for the UN.”

“The safety and security of UN personnel and property as well as the inviolability of UN premises must be guaranteed at all times,” he added.

British maritime security firm Ambrey has confirmed that the vessel that reported a projectile fall near Saudi Arabia is a Liberia-flagged and Israeli-owned tanker.

In a separate update, Ambrey added that it has assessed the vessel to be “aligned with” the targets of the Houthis in Yemen, given that it was publicly Israeli-owned.

As we reported earlier, the UKMTO had said the vessel was safe and continuing with its voyage. The Houthis have still not commented on the incident.

The Trump administration has suspended approvals of almost all types of visitor visas for Palestinian passport holders, The New York Times has reported, citing US officials.

The new measures preclude Palestinians, at least temporarily, from obtaining visas for medical treatment, university studies, to visit friends or relatives, and for business.

This applies to those who hold Palestinian passports, which are issued by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), but not to Palestinians with dual nationalities, or those who have already obtained visas.

The move follows earlier restrictions on Palestinians from Gaza and on Palestinian officials attending the annual UN General Assembly in New York next month.

Major-General Muhammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari, chief of the general staff of the Houthi armed forces, says that the “heinous crime” that Israel committed in killing the Houthi prime minister and other cabinet members will not deter the group from attacks in support of Gaza.

“The Zionist enemy must know well that by committing this atrocious crime, it has opened the gates of hell upon itself,” he said in a statement.

“The response of our armed forces will be harsh and painful, with effective and impactful strategic options, God willing.”

Al-Ghamari said that the Houthis are developing their “strategic military capabilities” and will soon make announcements on this.

Footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows that the al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza has plunged into darkness due to its generators running out of fuel.

The lack of power puts the lives of thousands of injured patients at risk, especially those in intensive care.

مستشفى شهداء الأقصى وسط قطاع غزة يغرق في الظلام جراء تعطل معظم المولدات الكهربائية ونقص الوقود اللازم لتشغيلها، ما يهدد حياة آلاف المرضى والجرحى، خصوصاً في أقسام العمليات والعناية المركزة وحضانات الأطفال.#حرب_غزة #فيديو pic.twitter.com/5sesEkV9Cm

— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) August 31, 2025

Translation: The al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza has plunged into darkness due to the failure of most of its generators and the lack of fuel needed to operate them. This threatens the lives of thousands of patients and wounded, particularly in the operating room, intensive care unit and nursery.

Weapons and support from the West, led by the United States, have been central to Israel’s war in Gaza.

The United Kingdom’s and European Union’s relations with Israel remain essentially unchanged despite the war.

Is this complicity? And could there be legal consequences for Western nations and their leaders?

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reports that an incident took place some 40 nautical miles (74km) southwest of Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu in the Red Sea.

The captain of a vessel described witnessing “a splash in close proximity to their vessel from an unknown projectile and heard a loud bang” but no one was hurt, and the ship is carrying on.

Since 2023, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea that they deem to be affiliated with Israel in what they describe as support of Palestinians in Gaza.

It was not immediately clear if the Houthis were involved. The Houthis did not immediately comment on the reported incident.

UKMTO WARNING 029-25-ATTACK
31 AUG 2025 1730UTChttps://t.co/vMiU6Vsj8c#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/bFgNpOJqSS

— UKMTO Operations Centre (@UK_MTO) August 31, 2025

As Israel attempts to displace around one million Gaza City residents towards so-called evacuation zones in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that no space is available.

“Gaza City residents are unable to travel to the southern Gaza Strip,” UNRWA told Al Jazeera Arabic. “There are no places in the southern Gaza Strip for Gaza City residents to seek refuge.”

The agency warned that Gaza’s largest urban hub was witnessing a near-total collapse of the humanitarian system, while municipal services are almost non-existent.

“What’s happening in Gaza City is the most dangerous since the beginning of the war,” it said.

In an overcrowded clinic in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, Samar Abu Ajwah clutched her frail newborn as he burst into weak sobs.

Eyad has been diagnosed as malnourished, weighing only 1.9kg (4.2lb).

“He needs milk, and we are appealing for help from people who can afford it because we cannot,” Abu Ajwah, who also suffers from malnutrition caused by Israel’s punishing blockade of humanitarian aid, told Al Jazeera.

Ameera Tafesh brought Ru’a, her emaciated six-month-old, to the clinic hoping to find nourishment.

“I breastfed her when she was born, but it lasted only a week because I couldn’t produce enough milk,” she told Al Jazeera. “I need to feed her formula, but it’s not available.”

Read more here.

The Israeli army has released aerial footage of its forces blowing up a building in the repeatedly bombed Aita al-Shaab area of southern Lebanon near the border with Israel.

It claimed in a statement that the building was “used by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation for military activity” and called this a “blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon”.

The building allegedly served as the home of a Hezbollah operative who was killed a week earlier in the same village, according to the Israeli army.

Israeli forces have destroyed a large number of homes and buildings in ground attacks across southern Lebanon during the war on Gaza, and have continued to bomb Lebanon and operate inside its borders despite the November ceasefire with Hezbollah.

At least 11 United Nations personnel have been detained by the Houthis in Sanaa and Hodeidah, and property was seized after the Yemeni group raided offices, according to Hans Grundberg, UN special envoy to the country.

These arrests come in addition to 23 UN personnel currently in detention, some detained since 2021 and 2023, and one who died in detention earlier this year, he said in a statement.

“Despite sustained engagement and assurances sought over the last year, the arbitrary detention of UN staff, NGO workers, and civil society has continued. These actions severely hinder broader efforts to deliver assistance and advance peace in Yemen,” he said.

Grundberg said the Houthis must immediately and unconditionally release all UN personnel, as well as staff from national and international NGOs, civil society organisations, and diplomatic missions.

Israeli raids are ongoing in the southern areas of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, with Wafa reporting that a 37-year-old Palestinian man was arrested and his vehicle seized by Israeli soldiers in the town of Beit Fajjar.

Several more towns and villages in the area were attacked as well, but no further arrests have taken place so far.

In Nablus, Israeli soldiers attacked the village of Sarra and the town of Sebastia, firing live ammunition and sound bombs without any injuries reported.

But in the town of Nilin in Ramallah, a 25-year-old man was arrested during an incursion. More raids took place in the village of Nabi Saleh northwest of Ramallah, and the towns of Silwad and al-Mazraa ash-Sharqiya to the east of the area.

Let’s take a quick look at the latest developments:

• The Israeli army continues to bombard areas across Gaza, with some of the latest attacks killing at least four people in Deir el-Balah and others hitting Sabra in Gaza City.
• At least seven Palestinians have been injured and a number of others arrested during multiple attacks on areas in the occupied West Bank’s Hebron by Israeli soldiers and settlers.
• The Jerusalem Governorate said Israel is carrying out unauthorised excavations and demolition operations beneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to destroy Islamic antiquities.
• The Houthis in Yemen raided United Nations offices and detained more UN staff in Sanaa after the group’s leader warned against “treason” and said military attacks against Israel will escalate in response to the killing of the Houthis’ prime minister and other cabinet members.
• The Global Sumud Flotilla humanitarian expedition set off from Spain’s Barcelona on a mission to break the siege of Gaza and deliver aid to Palestinians.

The main thing organisers hope will come from the pro-Palestine conference in Detroit, Michigan in the US is giving people a tangible strategy to implement in their locales, said Palestinian-American activist Mohammed Nabulsi.

“What we’ve realised is that we’re in a moment where we have a government and an administration that’s not going to be receptive to any pressure. Its relationship with the state of Israel and the Israeli government is one of complete no limits in terms of what they can do in Gaza,” he told Al Jazeera at the conference.

“For us, the main weakness in this network of private actors, governments and media that facilitates this genocide is the corporate actors. We’re specifically thinking about the way that corporate actors, including shipping giant Maersk or software company Microsoft, are facilitating the genocide.”

Nabulsi said activists plan on implementing more pressure on local governments to take action, as well as against the companies. Some companies could be pressured through directing focus on their public contracts with other countries that may agree to end them, he said.

The Israeli military has been forcing about one million Palestinians living in Gaza City to move southwards to designated areas as it intensifies its campaign to seize the Gaza Strip’s largest urban hub. Amid relentless Israeli attacks, residents are facing the impossible choice of staying in the area, or being displaced once again.

Feeda Hamad said overcrowding made it difficult to find somewhere to relocate to.

“Where are we going to go? Is there any place in the south? We can’t find one. I found a space and we have settled here,” she told Al Jazeera.

“My daughters tell me every day: ‘Let’s leave mom, or we will die here.’ I tell them that we would die there and we would die here. Let me stay here in Gaza City then. It’s better.”

Akram Mzini said his family would not leave because “displacement is so difficult”.

“We were forced to the south before, and it wasn’t easy. It was expensive,” he said. “We were displaced to Rafah, Deir el-Balah, az-Zawayda … Life is difficult everywhere, so we will stay in our home and whatever God wills will happen.”

Iman Qassem said there was “no food, no medicine, no water”, but she would still remain in the city.

“I’m a cancer patient and I wish I could eat an apple or a tomato or some fruit, but there isn’t any,” she said. “Life is difficult, and Gaza City has been destroyed completely; it’s gone.”

Israel’s offensive to seize Gaza City will make the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip even more dire, the World Food Programme’s chief has said.

“It’s going to limit the amount of food that they have access to,” Cindy McCain told CBS’s Face the Nation news programme on Sunday.

“Of course, the danger alone is a whole other part of that, as you know, and it does not make it easy for humanitarian aid workers to get in there as well to make sure that we can do our job.

“The one thing that I’ve been saying all along about situations like Gaza City and others is that humanitarian aid workers are not targets. They’re not targets, and this has to end.”

#Gaza is at a breaking point. I've just seen it myself.
 @WFP operates in conflict zones all over the world. Families in Gaza are starving—and we know how to deliver at scale.
 
We must revive our network of 200+ food distribution points, community kitchens & bakeries ASAP.

— Cindy McCain (@WFPChief) August 28, 2025

The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate reports that leaked videos have revealed unauthorised excavation and demolition operations being carried out by Israeli authorities under the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

“These operations deliberately target Islamic antiquities dating back to the Umayyad period, which stand as living witnesses and irrefutable evidence of Muslims’ rightful claim to the site,” it said in a statement, referring to the rule of the Islamic caliphate that started in the year 661 and ended in 750.

It said Israel is destroying the Islamic archaeological landmarks with the aim of removing the historical identity of Al-Aqsa Mosque in favour of the future construction of a Jewish temple at the site, adding that the excavations are conducted away from any international oversight.

The organisation called it a “crime and a blatant violation of international laws and agreements protecting artefacts”.